Pneumatic piano player



J. WEARHAM PNEUMATIG PIANO PLAYER Filed July 6, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l l d* ffy:

nunon@ Nav. 10 1925- J. wEARHAM I PNEUHATIC PIANO PLAYER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 un", v1.1.1,'

'1111.11' van Patented Nov. 10, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WEARHAM 0F WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR 'ro vcKERs LIM- ITED, OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND, A BRITISH COMPANY.

PNEUMATIC PIANO PLAYER.

Application filed .Tuly 6,

To all 'who/NL t may cou-0cm.'

Be it known that I, JOI-1N Tumi-IAM, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Vickers House, Broadway, Testminster, in the county of London, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Pneumatic Piano Players, of which the following is 'a specification.

This invention relates to pneumatic piano players in'which the strikers are controlled by a moving perforated or slotted music roll or Sheet. The invention is especially intended for use with the piano player forining the subject of British Patent No. 186680 but it is to be understood that the said invention is not restricted to such use as it is capable of being employed in connection with other-forms of piano players.

According to the presentinvention the music roll or sheet and the pumping device which supplies air underA pressure to the wind box or chest (or which exhausts air therefrom) for operating the pneumatics are manually actuated byA means of a crank having a plate or disc upon'which the palm of the operators hand rests. This plate or disc may carry a member between which and the plate or disc the operators hand is slipped7 the necessary grip being preferably obtained' by pressure of the lingers upon the plate or disc so' as to bring the back of the hand into firm contact with the said member.

Means may be provided for causing the stroke that is given to the feeding bellows to vary automatically in accordance with the position occupied by the movable element of a pressure regulating reservoir with which the saidbellow's communicates. For this purpose the lshaft of the crank may carry acam Operating the movable element of the feeding` bellowsfwhichis carried bythev movable'element'of a large bellows or' pressure regulating 'reservoir' with which. the former bellows communicates; The `arrangement issuch that asthe store of air in'th'e large bellowsaccumulates, or asthe'degree ofsuetion thereinincreases, as thecase may be, depending on thetype of 'pianoplayer towhich tlie'invlention is applied, thef'roller onthe feedingbellows will occupy different' ims'itons giving decreasing amplitudes ofv 1922. Serial No. 573,124.

movement to the bellows; in this manner over-pumping 1s avoided and no sudden change of load will be thrown upon the hands.

In order to vary the force with which the pneumatics operate, the aforesaid plate or disc may be so mounted that it can be turned about an axis at right angles to its surface during the rotation of the crank and means are provided whereby the turning movements are transmitted to the device controlling the force with which the pneumatics operate.

In an alternative arrangement the movable plate of the feeding bellows may normally occupy an inclined position so that its upper edge (which is preferably pivoted) is situated further away from the operator than the lower edge and this plate may have a leather or other suitable strap or bridge member for receivingthe operators hand. The said plate may also carry one or more levers or other devices for varying the force or tempo with which the pneumatics operate, this device being preferably actuated by lateral movements of the operators hands upon the plates or by the thumbs of the operator.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect theV same will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation showing a constructional formof the invention,

Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1 with the drivingv plate or disc shown inverted,

Figure 3 is a section taken approximately on the line 3, 3 of lFigure 1 and viewed from the right hand side, y

Figure 4' is a section taken approximately on the line 4, 4 o'f'Fi'gure 1 and viewed from the'rightl hand side,

Figure 5' is a perspective view showing diagraminatically" al modified constructional formof the invention and Figures G and 'Y are viewsof-detailshereinafter referred to.

Referring toFiguresl to 4, A is the driving Acylinder or take up spool for the. music l sheet A1, Az'isthe cylinderfrom which't'hemusic sheet is drawnon to theforiner cylinf der" andfASis thet'r'ackr bar over' which the music sheet passes. B is the wind box, B1 is the aforesaid large `bellows or pressure regulating reservoir communicating with this wind box and B2 is the small feeding bellows mounted on the bellows B1. C is the aforesaid operating crank and C1 is the aforesaid plate or disc having a bridge member C2 which is suitably padded and between which and the disc C the operators hand is placed as aforesaid. Rigidly connected to the disc C1 is a cam C3 and the combined disc and cam are pivoted at C* to a base member C5 having lugs 05x, C5X through which the horizontal portion C1X of the crank loosely passes. This cam operates upon a roller carried by a sleeve C slidably mounted on the portion C1X of the crank which sleeve is joined by a member C7 to a sleeve CS slidably mounted on the J crank shaft. The member C7 is of half-tube section so as to partly enclose the side of the crank. vThe' sleeve C8 is spring controlled and has a collar operating upon a pivoted arm C9 connected by a cord @Wto any suitable device controlling the force with which the pneumatics operate. Such a device is shown in Fig. 6 and comprises a small bellows C10 having a pipe C11 leading to the main Vair reservoir and a pipe C12 leading to the Vwind chest of :the striking motors or pneumatics. The movable plate of this bellows carries a shutter 010 which moves over a lateral aperture 012 communicating with the interior of the pipe C12. The cord CUX is connected to the said movable plate. The disc C1 has a pointer c1 moving over an expression scale c5 attached to the base member C5.

CX is the aforesaid cam which is operated by the crank and engages with a roller b3 on a spring controlled arm B3 pivoted at b3* to a fixed part. This arm'engages with a roller b2 on the movable element of the feeding bellows B2. As the d egree of suction in the large bellows B1'.(with which the feeding bellows B2 communicates by a pipe b1) .increases and the movable element of the bellows B1 moves downwards in consequence, the roller b2 will be brought gradul ally and smoothly into different positions along the arm. B3' so that Vthe amplitude of Vmovement given by the cam Cx tothe movable element of the bellows B1 will ybe varied to suit the different requirements. Then the roller b2 comes opposite the pivot- ZX no stroke .will beimparted to the 1novable element of the bellows B1. The said cam is preferably shaped as shown in ure a so that the major portion of the work 1s performed during Jthe forward movement of thelcrank, namely at the` time when the l operator tends to exert the greatest turning moment upon'jth'e crank shaft, and theyre# turn or. inoperative 'lmovement ofthe beh lows p *B2* 'takes place during tlie''1noveineut of the crank towards the operator, when the tendency is to exert a lesser turning moment upon the crank shaft. In this manner the effect of a uniform and balanced operation of the crank can be obtained which is important for driving the music sheet. `When this portionA of the invention is em ployedl in conjunction with a piano player in which the pneumatics are operated by air compressed by the bellows B2 the arrangement of the cam Cx and its associated parts would be suitably modified so as to obtain the desired action. c

Two of the aforesaid cranks andv pumping devices are preferably employed arranged one at each side of the central por# 'tion of the piano player containing or carrying the music roll or sheet. The crank at the left hand side has no operative connection with the cylinders A, A2; 'it may however have a device similar to that hereinbefore described for varying the force with which the pneumatics operate and in this case thepneumatics Vappertaining to the higher notes would be controlled by the device onvthe right hand .crank'and those appertaining to the lower notes .would be controlled by the device on the left hand crank. As the lingers of the operators hands are extended in close contact with the 9 actuating plates or discs and are moved up and down during the operation of the latter, some resemblance exists vbetween the operators movements and those employed in '100 ordinary pianoforte playing.

Y The driving mechanism for the music sheet comprises 1n the example shown friction wheel a on the aforesaid crank shaft which wheel presses against a band or belt al passing over an idle wheel a. on an arm of a spring controlled member a2 pivoted at a2". The said band or belt passes over a pulley ag connected to the spindle a0 of the driving cylinder A. The crank shaft alsov l carries a sprocket wheel at connected by a chain a to a smaller sprocket wheel a5 which is connected by a friction wheel at' to another friction wheel am' carried by an other arm of the member a2. The wheels @WandaG are mounted coaxially with the handle ax, the driving connection between the crank C and the cylinder A is interrupted owing tothe bodily movement of the wheel all* away from the wheel a, and-thcv friction wheel a*- is brought Vinto Contact with'fa'small friction wheel ias on' the spindle' of the vlinder at "thereby tabisifngfa driving connection between the crank shaft and the cylinder A2 for re-winding the music sheet from the driving cylinder A; at this time the operative connection between the friction wheel ai and the speed indicating pointer (07X is interrupted owing to the bodily movement of this wheel away from the wheel L06 appertaining to the centrifugal device al. Spring controlled brakes a, a9* are provided on the men'iber a? for braking the cylinder A2 when the member a2 is in the position shown by Figure and for freeing this cylinder and braking the other cylinder A when the said member is moved as aforesaid into the position for re-winding the music sheet on the cylinder A2.

In the modified construction shown by Figure 5 D represents the movable plate of the bellows arranged at an inclination as shown and pivoted at its rear upper edge to the fixed plate D1 of the bellows. The latter plate constitutes one of the walls of the wind box or chest D2 which is of triangular form in cross section. D3 is a strap or bridge piece between which and the plate D the operator places his hand in order to operate the bellows. D* is a small handle pivoted to :the plate D and connected to a crank to which is attached a cord D leading to the device for varying the loudness. This device may be similar to that shown in Figure the cord DG being connected to the movable plate of the bellows. A second small handle similar to the handle D* may be provided for varying the tempo. For this purpose this second handle is connected to a second crank similar to the crank D5 and to this second crank is attached a cord D7 (Fig. 7) connected to a slice valve DS which controls ports (ZT and (Z5 communicating with pipes d and ZSK which lead respectively7 to the main air reservoir and to the pneumatic motor for driving the music roll.

It is to be understood that the term piano player herein employed is intended to include players for keyboard instruments similar to pianos.

That I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is l. In a pneumatic piano player, the combination with a pumping device, of a crank for actuating said device and a plate on said crank upon which plate the operators hand rests in actuating the crank. y

2. In a pneumatic piano player, the combination with a pumping device, of a crank for actuating said device, a plate on said crank upon which plate the operators hand 'ests in actuating the crank and a bridge member en said plate between which member and plate the operators hand is passed.

3. In a pneumatic piano player ofthe kind in which the mechanism is governed by a perforated music sheet. the combination with the elements claimed in claim l, of a driving cylinder for the music sheet and means for operating said cylinder from the crank.

al. In a pneumatic piano player of the kind in which the mechanism is governed by a perforated musicA sheet, the combination with the elements claimed in claim 2, of a driving cylinder for the music sheet and means for operating said cylinder from the crank.

5. In a pneumatic piano player, the combination with the elements claimed in claim l, of an air pressure regulating reservoir, a feeding device in communication with said reservoir and means for causing a stroke to be imparted to said device, means for automaticallj` varying said stroke in accordance with the position occupied by an ele-ment of said reservoir moving in accordance with the pressure conditions in the reservoir.

6. In a pneumatic piano player, the combination with the elements claimed in claim l, of an air pressure regulating reservoir, an element thereof moving in accordance with the pressure conditions in the said reservoir, a feeding bellows mounted on said movable element and placed in communication with said reservoir, and a device mounted on a stationary part for operating` said bellows.

7. In a pneumatic piano player, the combination of an air nessure regulating reservoir, an element thereof moving in accordance with the pressure conditions in the said reservoir, a feeding bellows mounted on said movable element and placed in comnunication with said reservoir, a cam for operating said bellows and a pivoted member interposed between said cam and the movable element of said bellows.

8. In a pneumatic piano player having pneumatics for operating the keys` the com bination with the elements claimed in claim l, of means for pivoting the plate so that it can be turned about an axis at right angles to its surface during the rotation of the crank, a cam moving' with said plate and means whereby said cam operates to vary the force with which t-he pneumatics operate.

9. In a pneumatic piano player, the combination with a feeding bellows having a movable plate which normally occupies an inclined position with its upper edge situated further away from the operator than the lower edge, of a bridge piece carried by said plate between which bridge piece and said plate the operators hand is passed.

l0. In a pneumatic piano player having pneumatics for operating the keys, the combination with the elements claimed in claim 9 of a controlling element carried by the movable plate for varying the expression produced by the operation of the pneumat-ics.

i JOHN IVEARHAM. 

